Lawyers test
child Internet lawA defense attorney argues
the enticement statute is too
vague and unconstitutional
A defense attorney contends the law making it a crime for a person to use the Internet to arrange to have sex with a child is unconstitutionally vague as law enforcement officials press forward with the third child enticement prosecution.
Howard Luke, attorney for the first person arrested under the law, said the wording of the statute is vague and overly broad. He has made two unsuccessful attempts to have a like indictment against client, Grant Detwiler, dismissed.
"I think there can be and there will be other individuals who will challenge (the law) on the same grounds or additional grounds based on constitutionality," Luke said.
A University of Hawaii student leader arrested last week for allegedly using the Internet to arrange to have sex with a 13-year-old girl is the third person charged under the law that took effect last year.
Paul Clur, 35, a graduate student and chairman of the UH student caucus, is charged with first-degree electronic enticement of a child, a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Clur was arrested Friday when he showed up for a meeting he allegedly arranged with the girl. The girl was a fictitious person created online by a special investigator with the state Department of the Attorney General working as part of the Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Clur made his initial court appearance yesterday and will return for a preliminary hearing Nov. 4 unless a grand jury indicts him before then. He remains free on $50,000 bail.
In online communication with the investigator, Clur said he likes young Japanese girls, claimed to have taught a 15-year-old girl how to have sex and that "it was cool to him that (the agent posing as a girl) was not yet a fully mature female," according to documents submitted in court yesterday by the Attorney General's Office.
The state electronic enticement law, which is similar to a federal law, was passed last year and took effect June 25, 2002.
The first person charged under the new law, Detwiler, 27, of Kahala, was arrested in February. The second person, Armando Sierra, 50, of Mililani, was arrested last month. Both are awaiting trial.
The attorney general is prosecuting all three cases and anticipates challenges to the law.
"Certainly, there will be new areas to be tested. This is a new crime," said Kristin Izumi-Nitao, head of the Attorney General's Hawaii Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force unit.
First-degree electronic enticement of a child involves three elements:
>> Use of a computer or other electronic device to communicate with a minor, or with someone who purports to be under 18 years old>> Intent to commit murder, a Class A felony or any offense listed in the state's sex offender registration law.
>> A meeting between the two parties must also take place.
